Sex Workers Plea for Arrest Moratorium

It’s been nearly two years since a bill that would have decriminalised sex work was withdrawn and sent back to the Department of Justice to be revised.

• Sex workers are calling for a moratorium on arrests and fines until politicians mull over finalising the redraft of a bill to decriminalise sex work.
• This comes nearly two years after the bill was withdrawn and sent back to the Department of Justice to be revised.
• Sex workers are still getting arrested two years after the bill was scrapped.
• The Asijiki Coalition is concerned that sex workers are being excluded from consultations on the revised bill.
• The justice department has said that it is hosting a workshop on sex work before broadening consultations to civil society.

Sex workers are calling for a moratorium on arrests and fines until politicians finalise the redraft of a bill to decriminalise sex work.

This comes nearly two years after the bill was withdrawn and sent back to be revised. In 2022, former Deputy Minister of Justice John Jeffery held consultations on decriminalisation. The public comment period opened for the draft bill in January 2023.

It followed many years of advocacy by sex workers and activist organisations.

The former Minister of Justice Ronald Lamola, in a media briefing from December 2022, acknowledged that, “Criminalising sex work has not stopped the selling or buying of sex, nor has it been effective. If anything, it has led to higher levels of violence against sex workers.”

Lamola said that, “Decriminalisation will de-stigmatise sex work and enable access to basic services and protection by law enforcement agencies.”

But the state’s legal advisors flagged serious shortfalls with the bill, raising concerns that it “may not pass constitutional muster if it does not also provide for the regulation of sex work”. The bill was sent back to the justice department in mid-2023.

In October 2024 the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) launched court action against the justice department, challenging the criminalisation of sex work.

Now sex workers and activists are demanding the department urgently prioritise the “long-delayed” bill.

The Asijiki Coalition for the Decriminalisation of Sex Work and SWEAT set up a “help desk” in protest outside the provincial department’s offices in May. They raised concerns that the “new administration has shown no political will to prioritise the process”.

Responding to the Asijiki Coaltion’s action, Deputy Minister of Justice Andries Nel promised to host an internal workshop in July to discuss policy and legislation on sex work. But it’s unclear whether this workshop has already taken place because the department has failed to respond to our requests for comment.

Meanwhile, Constance Mathe, national coordinator of the Asijiki Coalition, said that the workshops guiding the government’s policies on sex work appear to be excluding sex workers and their organisations.

Sex worker arrests

Despite the commitments from the Department of Justice, and consultations for the redraft bill underway, arrests and fines of sex workers are on the rise, according to SWEAT.

Megan Lessing of SWEAT told GroundUp that they’ve noted a “concerning spike” in fines issued to sex workers in Cape Town. The organisation is now lobbying for a moratorium on arrests of sex workers.

According to Wayne Dyason, spokesperson for Cape Town Law Enforcement, 780 sex workers have been arrested or fined so far in 2025. Compared to last year’s total of 575, and 544 in 2023.

SWEAT recently highlighted the arrests of nine sex workers by the Durban Metro Police Service in January. The eThekwini municipality issued over a 1,000 notices to sex workers in the 2022/23 year.

EThekwini did not respond to GroundUp’s questions on its latest figures.

Arrests related to sex work reflect on SAPS crime statistics under “sexual offences detected as a result of police action”. According to SAPS crime statistics from 2023/2024, about 10,800 sexual offences detected as a result of police action were reported. This is an increase from about 9,600 from the previous year and up from 7,200 in the 2021/2022 reporting period.

Despite numerous follow-ups and a commitment to respond, the Department of Justice did not respond to our queries.

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